


Thank You

by alucardbelle



Category: Original Work
Genre: Needles, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 22:13:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8464954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alucardbelle/pseuds/alucardbelle
Summary: Liam Barber lives an almost-perfect life. Every day is spent with loving parents and his sister, Emily. But something is wrong with the family dog and he's about to find out the sacrifices made for his wonderful life.





	1. Chapter 1

Liam Barber was unsure of why Skip, the family dog, was floating upside down- but he knew it couldn’t be a good thing. It had happened out of nowhere. He had been stargazing from the second-story window of his bedroom when Skip whined for attention. The dog climbed on the bed and was pet to his absolute delight. Then he jumped up… and froze in place. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when Liam touched the creature, it glitched- pixelated like a bad computer program and all of a sudden the dog was upside down.

Needless to say, Liam was nervous to touch Skip again. 

There were many things Liam, even as a twelve-year-old, was confident he could fix all by himself. This was not one of those things. Creeping up from a bed decorated with patterns of stars and constellations, Liam made sure to tip-toe around the dog. Square chunks of its body shifted around. It was like it was trying to shift back in place, but didn’t quite know what to do. It wasn’t gory or gross, but something about it was deeply unsettling. Liam felt the need to keep the door open as he left.

The boy looked across the hall to his parent’s bedroom- it was empty. Something felt odd about it, but it was probably nothing. His parents could be downstairs, elsewhere in the house. Liam bolted towards the staircase. They had to be down there. His sister, Emily, had left an hour or so ago to go on a date. Even though his parents were top in their respective fields, Emily could be easier to approach about… whatever this sort of thing was. Panic seized his insides as his foot slid down one of the final steps and he was sent flying forward. 

He landed directly on his face, his arms splayed out around him. He hardly even questioned why it barely hurt. Instead he got up on his hands and knees to see… his parents sitting on the couch. However, they weren’t just sitting. Well that wasn’t true. They were just sitting but that was all they were doing. Liam slowly walked over to inspect his parents. Both his mother and father were sitting on the couch, staring blankly forward. They weren’t even breathing. His father’s hands laced over his mother’s in an affectionate gesture. It was almost like they had been waiting for him, but paused in place.

“Mom?” He said to the female figure. He turned to the other, “Dad?”

There was no response. Liam went on for a bit, even adding hand gestures and large movements to the mix. Nothing he did caused them to stir, even for a moment. His mother had on her favorite red lipstick. Something about her stretched smile made his jaw hurt. His father was wearing his lab coat, as if he had just finished a round of testing. It was like staring at a picture. Tears sprung into his eyes and he attempted to touch them. His arm went right through them, like they were made entirely of air. The “image” of their bodies shifted around his flesh. The boy’s hands went to his face in horror and he backed away until he hit the wall.

His small form slunk down and he wrapped his arms around his legs. What was going on? Was this all a dream? Yet the longer he waited for them to move, the more aware he became that it was all too real. His face paled and fear crashed down his spine. Maybe if Emily came home soon this could be-

“What if she doesn’t know what to do either?” He whispered to himself, “What if… Mom always said...”

Whenever there was a problem that left Liam stumped and feeling out of control, his mother would always tell him to retrace his steps. It was one of the many ways his parents made him feel safe. He just needed to think and remember. Thoughts buzzed through his head a mile a minute thinking of where to start. “From the beginning” said his dad’s voice, “Always from the beginning.” The beginning in this case had to be this morning, right? He could only assume it was something that happened today. Everything had seemed normal. Then again, in a situation like this, every minor detail was important. Watching film noirs for hours on end had taught Liam that. 

Liam had woken up in his house on Ashbury Lane just like he did every morning. If it wasn’t the dog jumping on him, it was usually his mother coming in to say breakfast was ready. His father would always be downstairs. He was the one who always made breakfast and set it up on the table. At one point during their marriage, they always told Liam, it was agreed his dad was the only one with any skill in cooking. So his mother would get the early morning start on experiments while his father prepared meals.

This morning breakfast was blueberry pancakes with scrambled eggs and bacon. There wasn’t anything particularly special about today, besides hanging out with a friend, Tim. Emily wasn’t at the table yet when Liam walked in and sat down. She would always come in after the other three had started. For some reason, no one would wake her up but perhaps it was because she was expected to get up on her own. After all, she was almost seven years older than Liam. She was adopted. Liam suspected this despite no one really acknowledging it. This was due to the fact that she looked nothing like him or their parents.

While Liam had inherited his dark hair, eyes and tanned skin from his parents, Emily was considerably pale. This was accentuated by strawberry blonde hair and bright green eyes. Something about her features were almost too perfect to look at. Yet no one ever discussed it, so Liam didn’t either. However, in terms of scientific know-how she was like a clone of their parents. This morning she came in for breakfast and then… Present Liam scrunched his face in concentration.

There was a phone call. His mother answered the phone with a chipper voice. Tim had to cancel. But… Why did he cancel, again? It probably wasn’t important now. He had felt disappointed he wouldn’t be seeing his friend. That was when Emily had suggested they go out and have fun, just the two of them. There was some kind of theme park she wanted to go to- Yet the name escaped him in the present. He was there for a large part of the day and the name was just gone. Strange minor details that were insignificant, things he couldn’t remember… There was an almost itching sensation in back of his head trying to think of them. 

 

It didn’t matter for now. Liam was being forgetful. Of course their parents had, of course, jumped on the idea of the theme park, “sibling bonding” and all that. The only stipulation was that the kids didn’t stay out too late. Emily made some kind of joke about running away to become carnival people. Liam promised they would call the house phone on the way home. He and Emily got there, to the park. That’s the next thing Liam remembers. The car ride over was a blur of still-moments. There was the itching again. In trying to recollect what had to be around at least an hour of the day, his breathing grew heavy and his chest tight.

Somehow they had arrived at the park safely. Everything went smoothly at the gate. There was a grand entrance, marked by a long, tunneled passageway leading to giant doors. They were brightly colored and Emily mentioned something about the place being fantasy-themed. If she hadn’t told him then, it would have been incredibly apparent once they had passed through. The street was lined with giant plants and flowers with tiny glowing bulbs meant to represent creatures. In addition, many of the decorations and even some of the rides were in the form of dragons.

A lot of the people working there were in medieval costumes. He remembered being surprised at how happy they looked despite being in such heavy clothes during the summer. Emily had said they were just really good at their jobs. After that she pulled him on several rollercoasters, at least the ones he was tall enough for. Unfortunately for him, she got to tease Liam several times for being tiny for his age. They ended up skipping over the rides he couldn’t go on.

“That one is lame anyways.” Emily would state before guiding him somewhere else.

The better part of the day was when it got too hot and they managed to wander into a water section of the park. It started out innocently enough, with the siblings splashing each other. Small jets of water would jump from place to place around them. Walking further in, the two found a synthetic waterfall that towered high above them. While Emily looked in wonder, Liam couldn’t help himself and gave her a light shove straight into the stream. In seconds his sister was completely soaked and the look on her face was nothing short of bewilderment.

Liam laughed so hard he hadn’t noticed her reach out until it was too late. His body was yanked forward and practically convulsed as the ice-cold water doused him. All he could do was sputter in shock; Emily giggling while shivering. Their shoes squeaked as they walked to find another ride. And then- 

“Was that it?” Liam wonders aloud, staring forward at his parents on the couch. It seemed too silly to think of.

As the pair left the water section, he noticed one last thing he wanted to interact with. It was one of those stone globes that would rotate on a pedestal, pushed by water. Emily told him it’s called a kugel ball. This one in particular was made of a brownish-red stone and for some reason no one was playing with it. It looked like a strange, alien planet as it gleamed in the sunlight. While it wasn’t the first time Liam had seen one, for some reason he felt the need to inspect it.

Maybe that should have been the clue that something was wrong with it. One of Liam’s movies had something similar: the detective’s gut instinct leading him to a trap. If one of the smartest characters he’d watched made the mistake, how was Liam supposed to avoid it? Emily had trot beside him to the kugel ball and stuck her hands to the stone. It was hot enough out that exposed sections of the globe would quickly dry as it rolled. Her hands dragged along as she tried to place enough pressure to stop it.

She gave a mock grunt of frustration and her voice was exaggerated, “Oh no. I’m not strong enough. Liam, I need your help!”

Even if it was obviously a fake gesture, Liam couldn’t help but smile. His sister sidestepped to give him more room to stand next to her. He accepted the spot with ease as his hands took their place on the ball. The small droplets of water almost made him slip forward before he dug his heels into the ground. Against his palms, the rock was giving off more heat than he expected.

Emily gave a smile as they both applied enough pressure for the ball to slow. The smooth surface dragged across his flesh when, strangely enough, it started getting hotter. Was it supposed to do that? Emily continued smiling as even the droplets felt like it was about to sizzle. The kugel ball finally stopped, but, as they pushed it into the other direction, Liam felt a sudden jarring pain on his hands. The boy pulled back, feeling as though he touched a hot pan.

A gasp of pain strangled down in his throat as his arms shook violently. He was scared to even look at his hands. It was like one-time mother had tripped- they had to go to the hospital and there were ugly blisters- Liam felt faint and his eyelids fluttered. When did that happen? Emily wasn’t there. She wasn’t at the hospital with them, where was she? Why couldn’t he-

“Liam!” Emily’s voice rang. She was shaking Liam, holding his hands palm-up. The pain was gone and his hands were unmarked.

Liam shook like a leaf, “I…uh. I don’t know. It hurt for a second and…”

His sister wrapped him in a hug, “Thank god you’re okay. You weren’t speaking and I thought something was wrong.”

“It’s weird, it doesn’t hurt anymore.” He whispered, “It felt so real.”

Just to be certain, his sister took him over to a first aid station settled within the park. After a quick inspection of both the kugel ball and Liam’s hands, the attendants found nothing wrong. All the workers could think of was that it had been dehydration and that the boy had perhaps imagined the entire thing. Even if he didn’t want to believe it, it was the only thing that really made sense. At the time he was so confused over what was happening, he had forgotten the strange jarring of memories of his mother. 

In present time, Liam wondered again why Emily hadn’t been there in the hospital. Had she been sick or something worse? Even as he tried to think of it now, however, it just made his head hurt. The memory of his mother itself was fuzzy and unclear. That moment when his hands felt like they were burning must have been the turning point of all of this. Before that everything seemed irrelevant. 

They drove home immediately after. A chilled water bottle sat in between Liam’s knees and the window was open. The entire ride home, he could just remember Emily apologizing over and over about not making him drink his water. As far as she was concerned, it was all her fault. Even though she didn’t ask, Liam promised not to tell their parents. Nothing had really happened, anyways. The drive was uneventful.

Then it was getting home, Emily leaving for her date and eating dinner. There was conversation with his parents over a new project- some new project that he couldn’t think of right now- and then it was time to get ready for bed. Then Skip had jumped up on the bed, desperate for attention since he was gone all day. What did the kugel ball have ANYTHING to do with his dog? Or with his parents? None of it even made sense.

Maybe there was something he was missing or not thinking of… Liam quickly went through the events of the day again in his mind. Yet he could only reach the same conclusions. There had to be some sort of factor that tied them together- Just when he thought of the possibility, Liam watched as the now-flickering image of his parents on the couch blinked out of existence, like a TV had just shut off. Panic dunked down into his stomach and he jumped up.

The couch was in front of him still, but his parents were completely missing. This was wrong. There was no way this was actually happening. They… They were just somewhere else in the house… that was it. That had to be it. Liam looked around on the first floor, starting with the kitchen. Dinner plates were still in the sink and the adults were nowhere to be found. He ran around the house like this for a while, even going back upstairs to see if they were in the master bedroom. Nothing.

The only place he hadn’t looked was Emily’s room. He had no idea why they would be in there, but he had to check. Nausea grabbed a hold of him as he went downstairs and down the hallway to his sister’s room. Just as he was about to open the door, a crashing sound reverberated from the upper floor. Liam rushed to the staircase in the living room to find his parents running down.

The first thing that struck him was that his parents were wearing different clothes. Both of his parents were in their lab coats now, outfits messed up and rustled from hysteria. His mother’s perfect makeup was smeared and blotted, her eyes red like she’d just been crying. Come to think of it, his father’s eyes, too, were red and irritated. On their faces was a mixture of relief and fear. Why did they look so scared? Something was wrong, and his first instinct was to escape.

His mother grabbed his arm quickly, “Liam! Where were you? It was like you disappeared! Come with us. Now.” Her voice was shrill and shaking.

The grip his mother had, it hurt. When his body didn’t move to the tug on his arm, his father stepped forward and pulled him even harder as his mother stepped back. If it had been any rougher, the appendage may very well have come out of the socket. For some reason, Liam could barely breathe. Even as he was being dragged down the hallway towards Emily’s room again, he tried to be dead weight.

He couldn’t go in there. Why were they making him go in there? The thought of going in there now was enough to make him scream. He did scream. It didn’t matter, his father didn’t stop, even as his face contorted in a show of emotional pain. Liam could feel the carpet underneath him causing friction burn on his stomach as his shirt crept up. A strange sound started to pulse inside of his very skull- the distant echo of a siren, far away but so deep in his head the noise bounced off the inner ear and cochlea.

Liam screamed again for good measure. His mother was crying as his father barged open the door. The boy started sobbing something, asking why they were in Emily’s room. The parents merely looked at one another in reply and his mother got down on the floor to hold her son. Looking around through clouded eyes, Liam saw just how sterile the room was. White walls lacking posters or photographs. Not even a nightstand by the bed. It didn’t look like the room of a teenage girl.

It was all he could focus on as his father practically picked up the bed and tossed it to the side. Next came the small rug on the floor, the most vibrant-colored thing in the room. That, too, was tossed to the side to reveal a large metal door in the middle of the floor. A singular handle was cranked open and Liam began to thrash again, suddenly consumed with horror. He couldn’t explain why he was reacting this way, only that he no longer had control.

“Ben! Ben, please take him!” His mother cried. Ben, his father, gave a nod as he pulled open the door in the floor with a creak. He walked over to his son, picking him up despite the fighting back.

His hand moved through his son’s hair, “Liam. L_am. It’s go_a be o_ay. We’re gonna __ep you s__.” Parts of his speech faded in and out with tones from the sirens. Liam sobbed and tried to push his body away.

Underneath the door was a long set of stairs going deep underground. Ben went down first and Liam looked over his father’s shoulders. Mother came down next, making sure she shut the door securely behind them. Liam closed his eyes and the smell of dirt filled his nostrils. Now his throat was sore and his voice beginning to crack. He whispered pleas to his parents that he hoped they could hear.

At some point they had leveled out and the stairs ended. Liam continued to fight even though he felt his muscles starting to weaken from strain. What were his parents going to do to him? He didn’t even know where they were. He knew his parents had a lab somewhere, somewhere they worked in the house but he never thought- What did his parents even do with their research? The siren grew louder as he tried to think of what the work was called.

He was carried past desks and computers and tables that carried wrenches and designs he couldn’t understand. A chalkboard lay askew in the corner, covered from top to bottom in equations written in fading chalk. Where they were going was cold, he knew. It was going to hurt again, again, why? It was like he had done this all before but he hadn’t, no, he would remember this- it was all a bad dream. It all felt too real and too vivid.

The machine was waiting for him. Liam’s body tensed and grubby fingers clawed into his father’s clothes. If they weren’t going to let him go, the least they could do was not put him in there. Over the noise in his own head he thought he could hear his parents talking to one another, something about processes and procedures. His mother ran over to the giant machine that towered over the rest of the room, starting to type on one of its several keyboards.

To the side of the monstrosity was a large oval pod- the size of a full-grown adult. Large cylinders and wires connected it directly to the machine. As his mother typed in more, the machine hummed to life, the pod’s door rising up and away. Liam could see the latex-covered cushions inside as well as the cuffs on all sides to “strap in” patients. To the back of the machine there is a space between the head and body, aiming towards the neck. Where the neck is meant to be laid, sharp needles and other instruments jut out towards imaginary flesh. Even in the dim lighting of underground, they gleam.

His mother spoke, not looking up from the keyboard, “Eve___ing is up and wor__. Put __m __ the s____ _od, Ben.” Only parts of words began to register, now[53] .

“Wh__ is E_ily?” Liam cried, his arms locking around his father’s neck. The sirens were just getting louder. It hurt his ears and his head and threatened to block out every thought.

“Y__’ll see _r soon.” The father whispered to his son. Unless he was mistaken, Liam could have sworn he heard the voice waver, as though his father was going to cry.

The man carried his son to the pod, and Liam looked around desperately for options. He was going to see Emily soon? What did they do to her? Was she already- ? Liam’s father attempted to lower Liam into the pod, grunting at the pain of nails digging into his neck. This was it. Liam could not let go, he couldn’t or he’d die, he was sure of it. He couldn’t see his father’s face, but he felt his body shaking, desperate to get Liam inside the pod.

Just when a hope lit in his core, he could see his mother rushing over to the pair. She was crying. She cried as she pried Liam’s hands open. As Liam was lowered, both his parents cried. One forced his arms down, the other his legs. Once he was strapped in, the needles scraped lightly against the flesh of his neck. They were cold and sharp. The child tried to keep his head up, only for his mother to press it down again, another strap coming over his forehead.

They all cried as the door lowered and all Liam could see of the outside was through the viewing window. The siren was at its loudest now. Noise had left his mind and bounced across the small area. It reverberated all around him like some hellish chorus. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed small spouts lining the sides of the pod beside him. They began to spit something out, small droplets splashing upwards. His parents mouthed things to him, but he couldn’t read their lips.

The viscous liquid rose quickly and Liam could feel it against his hand. As there was no light within the pod, the substance looked almost inky. It was slimy and gave his skin a burning, tingling sensation. His breath hitched as the instruments on his neck began to move. They angled upward and pressed forward. The liquid was past his chest now.

As it ran up his chin, the needles pierced through the base of his skull. Liam could just hear the crack of his own bones, and the micro-fractures that split along underneath the skin. All of this just increased the volume of the sirens, piercing his eardrums. The boy tried to scream when the pain became just too much. Instead the fluid entered his mouth and drizzled down his throat. It tasted the way rubbing alcohol smelled.

Liam closed his eyes, the only thing he could defend. He knew outside his parents were still crying, still mouthing things to him. The syrup continued down, down into his lungs, but instead of choking… he breathed it in. None of it made any sense. It filled his ears, too, and the sound of sirens turned into a murmur.

Liam opened his eyes and wondered how he was still awake. What would happen now? Where the instruments had entered there was a heavy, deep throb the boy could feel in the roots of his teeth. It was pumping something inside of his brain and veins. Then all of a sudden, the pain was gone. Some sort of medication, he thought. Whatever it was, it was making him drowsy.

His parents were smiling through their tears, perhaps knowing something he didn’t. One thing they said, he could finally read on their lips: “We love you.”

Just as his awareness began to shut off, another voice rang out. It rang through the pod and the liquid and the needles sitting inside of his brain. He could hear it like someone was laying right next to him, saying it in his ear. It was her.

Emily said, “Stop.”


	2. Chapter 2

Liam Barber was unsure of why Skip, the family dog, was floating upside down- but he knew it couldn’t be a good thing. It had happened out of nowhere. He had been stargazing from the second-story window of his bedroom when Skip whined for attention. The dog climbed on the bed, and was pet to his absolute delight. Then he jumped up… And froze in place. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when Liam touched the creature, it glitched- pixelated like a bad computer program and all of a sudden the dog was upside down.

Needless to say, Liam was nervous to touch Skip again.

There were many things Liam, even as a twelve-year-old, was

No.

No. No. No. No. He was here before. The bed of constellations. Film noirs. Running down the stairs. This had already happened. He didn’t know how he was able to realize this. Why he was realizing this now. Had he done this day only once? Or a hundred times? He didn’t know.

His eyelids fluttered and his brain itched as he tried to recall- He had to go downstairs. This time he walked slowly down, trying to see details he may have missed. Liam’s hand pressed against the back of his neck, searching for wounds. Nothing was there and the pod really had been a bad dream. Something hopeful in him thought maybe all of it was a nightmare and he would go downstairs and Emily and his parents would be waiting around the breakfast table for him.

He would tell them about the nightmare and they would all laugh together. His parents would reassure him that they would never do something like that to him, nor could they- ever. Skip would come running down. He wasn’t frozen it was just… something weird that would totally be explained by his parents. It had to have a rational explanation, didn’t it? All of this had to.

Once he reached the bottom of the staircase, he looked for his parents on the living room couch. No one was there, frozen or otherwise. A sigh of relief dragged out from his lips. Yet as he walked to the kitchen, no one was there either. He didn’t even bother searching the rest of the house as before. For just a moment the boy considered laying down on the couch and curling up. It wouldn’t solve anything, but maybe he would feel less distraught.

On the day before, when his parents were paused, Emily was out on a date. Assuming all of this was real, it presented the possibility that the pod was too. The thought crawled into the pit of his stomach. If the pod was real, however, why did Emily show up after he was inserted? His parents had said they would see her soon, is that what they had meant? Did she do something to make them let him out?

Did she… do something that made him forget? Liam’s hand snapped over his mouth as nausea washed over him. Obviously it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. Then again, as he remembered the needles entering his cortex, it was something no one should have to think about. The boy pondered over reasons why his parents- why anyone would place a person into that torture device. Many ran through his head, but none made sense.

Except one.

What experiments did his parents work on? Liam could remember jackets and coats and conversations about work. Yet for the life of him there were no memories of what their field of study was. What if… What if… The sick feeling overwhelmed Liam as his knees buckled and he vomited onto the living room carpet. His body shook and everything felt dizzy.

What if he was the experiment?

Emily wasn’t his sister. His parents weren’t his parents. How much of this was real? At this point he wasn’t even sure he was out of the pod. Perhaps at some point he was out and that was why his “parents” put him back in there. Then why did Emily try to stop them? While it seemed obvious to him now that he was the true experiment, there were still so many questions he couldn’t figure out. For a moment, Liam dry-heaved as his stomach attempted to purge what wasn’t there.

Tears fell from his eyes and blended into the bile. All the boy could do was wipe his face with his hands and stand up. There was a single place where he thought answers might lie. In the underground area, there had been a blackboard, notes on tables. The door was most likely too heavy for Liam, but that would be an issue to sort out when he got there. Like something out of a cartoon, the hallway between the living room and Emily’s room was like a long journey far, far away from anything he’d known.

Even as he stepped forward, the length of the pathway only seemed to grow. It stretched and warped as the only sound he could hear was his own heavy breathing. He thought back to the sound of sirens when going near the pod. It wasn’t happening now, what had made that happen before?

There was a movie once, a detective who heard a warning sound when he was in danger. Liam hadn’t paid much attention past that. He was never one very interested in supernatural plotlines. Emily later told him it hadn’t been that good anyways. If he really was the experiment… then why did they act like he was their child? Why would Emily act like she was his sister? His heart hurt to think of the possibilities. None of the ideas would make it okay. Not if they were just going to turn around and do this to him.

As he reached the door to Emily’s room, he thought of how bare it was. Just like the inside, it didn’t resemble what you would expect of a girl her age. Did she even sleep in there? Maybe this entire time he thought she was, but as he thought of it, he never directly saw her coming in and out of the door in front of him specifically. It was always an assumption since, well, where else would she be sleeping?

At this point he was just distracting himself with more questions. When he reached down, the doorknob felt oddly warm in his hands. Whether it was the actual doorknob or the hot sweat on his palms was anyone’s guess. Nothing to do now but- The door pushed open easily. But what Liam found was not a room.

He wasn’t even sure what you would call it. If someone were to spit out the descriptive words in his head and search those through a dictionary- the most fitting would be “void.” In front of Liam was empty black nothingness, but not out of lack of light. Instead it was a lack of… anything. Anything except her. At least he thought it was her. Deep into the pit stood a chair and in that chair a woman sat with her back towards the boy. She turned her head just to the side. 

Emily commanded in a quiet voice, “Please come and sit down, Liam. We need to talk.”

Liam looked down at the… it wasn’t a floor. For there to be a floor, it would mean something he could walk on. His instincts told him that if he walked forward, he would just fall forever into the dark. The smile Emily gave him was calm and reassuring. Hesitantly and ever so carefully he went against his judgement. Although unsure of how it was even possible, his footing was solid and steady.

As he looked down at the floor there was something entirely unnatural about it. His feet made no sound as he stepped forward. Even the smallest shadow of his form had disappeared. For some strange reason he thought about Peter Pan. It was such a random thought he could almost laugh[6] . He didn’t. There was a chair facing opposite of his “sister”, which he steadily walked to and sat in.

Despite this person looking exactly like Emily, a completely different person sat across from him. Her back was ruler straight and her gaze had a cold appearance. She had a knowing smile. An immature part of Liam wanted to ball up his small fists and hit her as hard as he could, even if it wouldn’t do anything. For a moment they both were silent. It was as if Emily wanted to give him some semblance of processing what was going on.

It was agonizing and he blurted out, “What kind of experiment am I?”

The look on Emily’s face could only be described as one of complete shock. Her eyes widened and her lips parted as though she was going to say something. She hadn’t been expecting him to know. Not like- Wait. Why was Emily putting her hand over her mouth like that? Between parted fingers Liam could swear there was a grin on her face. The clasp over her mouth grew tighter as the girl stifled her laughter.

“L-Liam.” She said muffled, “Is that really what you think?”

“Well, yeah! That’s totally what it is!” He shouted, his face growing red, “I’m just an experiment to you guys and you’re pretending to be my family!”

A giggle burst forth with a sigh, “I… can see how you possibly came to that conclusion. But think of this- I look nothing like our parents. You are the spitting image of them.”

“That’s because you’re adopted… I mean… Right?”

“Ah. I guess that would make sense in your logic. I’m adopted but real.” Even the way this girl spoke was entirely different than ‘his’ Emily. The Emily he knew.

“W-what do you mean ‘real’?”

“Real… As in existing. The genuine article of a person, so to speak.”

“So you’re real but I’m…” Liam trailed off in his sentence. He wasn’t even sure what she was trying to say now.

Another surprised look, “No, Liam. I… apologize. I’m being too vague and I’m supposed to be giving you answers.”

“‘Supposed to be’?”

For a moment, a familiar warmth hit her eyes, “Well not… I don’t mean supposed to be like it’s my function but more so… Ah. I’m not making this better.”

Emily tapped her fingers on her legs in thought. Liam couldn’t help but look down and twiddle his thumbs together. She was right about one thing. She wasn’t making this better. Was he really that far off from what was going on? Nothing was making any sense. Dogs that glitched, parents that shoved their kids into weird pod-things and rooms that had no floor… Why couldn’t he just wake up already?

“I’m not real.” Emily stated calmly, “At least… Not in the way you think I am.”

Liam practically yelped in frustration, “What does that even mean?!”

She paused again, “It’s so difficult to explain to you. How do you explain to a child that you are a computer? What you see in front of you is simply… an avatar- a- an imaginary person you could talk to! Just not… actually imaginary…”

“…What? A computer- I- What- None of this sounds right! What are you talking about?”

“Oh goodness gracious I’m messing up again. I’m not imaginary, just what you see in front of you. Well… that’s not true either- Sort of but- I don’t look like this. But everything I’m saying to you now, everything I feel and express is actually me. Does… Does that make sense?”

Several bad words that Liam had learned on television crossed through his head. He still would never say them aloud, despite the fact that his parents weren’t there. His parents? If he was real then did that mean they were really his blood? Then why did they- The figure across from him was waiting for answer.

So he answered honestly, “It sort of does. You’re a computer…? How am I seeing you like this if it’s… not what you look like and you’re not even real?” There were bare concepts, like puzzle pieces laid out. Corners that framed the larger portrait.

Sadness spread across Emily’s face, “That large machine. The one connected to the pod. You remember it, don’t you?”

“…Is that you? Is that why my parents…”

Emily nodded, “The machine you were connected to is me. The ‘real me’, so to speak. Do you remember why your parents did it?”

Words jumbled and melted in Liam’s mouth before they could come out. He thought back to the hazy nightmare. All his parents had told him was that they were… they had told him- the phrases and dialogue was fragmented, still. All Liam could really remember was fear. His parents dragging him to that horrible machine. To Emily. All that pain, it tinged and burned and dug into his skull.

“No.” He mumbled. A part of him just wanted to scream as his head started to itch again. The same itch. He choked, “Why would they do it to me? It hurt so much. What are you doing to me?”

“I… Liam. I’m so sorry. You were never supposed to remember-”

“Remember? What do you mean remember? It just happened! How am I seeing you, Emily?”

“You being placed into the pod. That was just a memory. It happened a long time ago, a very long time ago and I’m so sorry, Liam.” She wasn’t even looking at him now. Shame casted her gaze away into the void.

Liam demanded, “Why?” He wasn’t sure if he had ever sounded as angry as he did just then. The way he was now, he wasn’t far off from just shaking her.

“…Yes. Alright. Where do I start? In your reality, it was you and your parents. You were a single child. Your parents worked in a very specialized field of robotics and machinery. They were honestly some of the most creative minds of their time, but of course I may be slightly biased… Ahem, anyways. The world around your peaceful lifestyle was heading towards a very dangerous brink. Your parents… they had no idea what was going to happen. My understanding is that one night they decided to take some measurements of protection. Some people when faced with the apocalypse build bunkers. Your parents, well, they built me. Is any of this ringing a bell?”

It did. Liam suddenly recalled the many nights his parents had been working in their lab. They never quite told him where it was, but he had the sneaking suspicion it was hidden somewhere close. It was strange because even with their freelancing work, they had never been this busy. Instead of book reading together, he got swift forehead kisses before falling asleep. At school he heard rumors that there could be another war, but the adults brushed it off.

‘Another war would be pointless for everyone’ they would say. He didn’t remember why it was pointless or why they were even fighting. It’s not like he was really old enough to understand all that weird junk people fought about, anyways. It was just a thing people talked about, and what they usually said was how it wasn’t even a worry.

…Until that night. Liam hadn’t even noticed the light that had been installed on his wall. It blared and flashed, waking the child up with a jolt. A siren wailed off in the far distance. For some reason, Liam’s half-awake instinct had been to open the window of his second-story room where he would look at the sky. Despite being night, the sky was lit with deep red clouds. The quick sound of jets cut through the air. He had no idea what they meant. Without the small barrier against the sound, the siren’s noise grew ten-fold.

It had been enough that Liam had clamped his hands over his ears and felt a pang of terror in his heart. That was when his parents had grabbed him. It was so quick they didn’t even explain what was really going on. He remembered them half-dressed and crying. Remnants of his mother’s makeup dripped down her cheeks. She still looked beautiful. He had fought back then, too.

Back then, they still dragged him down, down underneath the house. Somehow even here, the siren could be heard giving its death call outside. No matter their promises of safety and seeing them soon, he didn’t believe it. Whatever was going on, they were all going to die, he was sure. The first time he had seen what they were really looking at, he could hardly breathe. The real moment, he hadn’t even focused on the pod. Maybe his parents had built something that would keep them all safe.

Then his mother gave the okay for Liam to be placed inside the system. As he screamed and cried to not do this to him, his mother told him Emily would explain everything. At the time he didn’t understand. In current time, in the void, Liam thought how strange it was, to remember so little and suddenly remember so much. Yet, the nightmare didn’t exaggerate the absolute agony of insertion into the pod.

His parents had looked devastated to see him like that. Over and over again, they mouthed ‘we love you’ through the viewing glass. Perhaps they hadn’t been mouthing it, but actually attempting to yell it through the metal and glass between them. As everything had blacked out, as chemicals pumped through his broken bone, he could swear his dad reached to touch his mother’s cheek. A final comfort of some kind. Of course he didn’t know that at the time.

“Liam!”

Liam looked up to Emily sitting across from him. For a moment he wondered if there was some sort of earthquake. Then he realized it was his own body that was shaking. Holding up his hands, the fingers tremored involuntarily. The girl looked as though she wanted to get up to help him. She was probably attempting to give him some sort of space. Liam took a few deep breaths. He tightened his eyes and breathed. After a few minutes of this he was able to be still.

Softly, he asked, “Where am I?” He was out of his element in terms of guesses and logic.

“This space doesn’t have a specific name.” Emily replied, “To put it simply, it’s a place I can make into anything I want at any time. For someone your age and… the things you went through… It would be better to create new memories for you to experience.”

“With my parents and you.” Liam offered, to which he got a nod. He could see Emily twirling her fingers. Was she anxious about something?

He continued, “Where are they? My parents.”

Emily gave a sigh, “Well. That’s the thing, Liam. There was only one pod. They hadn’t anticipated it would all happen so quickly. So they made a choice to save one of them or… you.”

“But they were so deep underground! They should have been safe!” Liam shouted, standing straight up from the chair.

“It wasn’t enough.” Emily shook her head, “The weaponry exchanged between all of the nations was so devastating… I’m sorry, Liam. Your parents have been gone for a long time.”

Liam gagged, “You’re lying! Why would you say that, Emily?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

“No, it’s not! Why are you lying?” the boy sobbed, “Haven’t you done enough?”

Even as he accused, he knew in his heart it was true. He hiccupped with tears. The entire time, the images on that couch weren’t real. While it made so much sense now, the revelation drove a spike into his heart. It felt like it was breaking. The entire time and he couldn’t see that his parents weren’t really there. He had cried so much today it felt like the ducts were all going to dry up soon. He wasn’t sobbing openly this time. Rather, small whimpers drifted from his person. Emily hadn’t said anything, letting him process it rather than argue.

“W-what about everything else?” Liam could remember small details of friends and teachers and distant relatives. Maybe one of them…?

Again Emily looked away from him, “In less than three weeks- around ninety percent of all organic life was wiped from this planet. Give or take based on marginal errors in my calculations. You could very well be the last human for all I know.”

A silence settled in between them. This was so much information to process- to accept as truth. It seemed Emily was trying her best not to overload him. Liam didn’t even want to think about how horrible everything was for it to end so quickly. Was everyone in pain before they died? Maybe it was a quick death. He secretly hoped that his parents didn’t feel anything. He hoped no one did, even if it was naïve. The thought of being the only person left wracked a chill down his spine. Emily seemed so smart and so sure… what if she was right?

If he really was the last it would mean so many things. Even if he got out of the pod and out into the world, who was to say he could even survive? The air could be toxic out there for all he knew. Even if he did live until he was old and grey, there would be nothing after him. Human extinction left a feeling of ultimate despair in Liam’s mind. It all seemed so pointless. But maybe he was getting ahead of himself.

Emily broke the silence, “No matter what happened in the past and how horrible the experience was… Your parents loved you so very much. In everything I’m telling you, this detail is the most important. They gave everything so you could have a chance.”

Even though Liam didn’t directly acknowledge the statement, it warmed his insides.

“You’d said… you didn’t mean for me to see it again. The pod stuff. What does that mean?”

“The pod you were placed in, as you may have already figured out, was made to keep you safe from a harmful environment. My job includes giving you medicines to keep you healthy, treating you as a patient. Your parents thought a machine with my functions would benefit with basic emotions. I already had consciousness so you and I could interact. It made sense for me to be able to sympathize with you if needed.”

Liam felt his nose scrunch in confusion, “What’s that got to do with it?”

“I had been checking other mechanics within the program. Despite this entire thing being me, in essence, I am not omnipotent-”

“Om-ni-what?” Liam interrupted.

“Oh. I apologize. You’re very smart for your age. I got carried away.” Emily laughed, “It basically means that I cannot see everything all the time. I didn’t realize the image of your parents was acting up and so once I saw what was happening to you… I felt something strange. Fear? Panic? Whatever it was exactly, I just wanted to make it okay as quickly as I could and… I miscalculated and instead of making a new memory- I accessed an old one.”

The more Emily spoke, the more Liam could see the person he had thought was his sister. She was talking like he remembered and her posture was no longer perfect. When he had entered this ‘room’ she seemed cold. Maybe it was appropriate considering she probably really was literally cold, being made of metal and all. Yet, as she was admitting her own mistake, the boy could see embarrassment flush her cheeks. She had stated this “avatar” was a way of expressing herself.

This must have been what she meant. Liam couldn’t imagine having felt all this sorrow in one day, learning about his parents, and being unable to show it in any way. Even if it was embarrassing, he was smart enough to know it was natural to cry and it made people feel better. Silently he wondered if having this form helped her do that- express negative emotions and feel better about them afterwards. Despite the heavy topics they were discussing, he felt uncomfortable asking. Emily looked ashamed.

“It’s strange. As horrible as it ended in this situation and other situations, those negative emotions are good.” Emily continued, “I don’t know if you’ll quite understand what I mean, but experiencing fear and worry over someone… It’s quite something. You meet someone and, when you don’t even realize it, you begin to care for them. It gives meaning that there is something else besides mere existence.”

“I um… Why are you telling me all this?” he could only ask. While he had an idea of what she was talking about, it really didn’t make much sense.

Emily laughed nervously, “It was a bit of a ramble on my end. I’m sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to just talk about anything without worry of raising suspicion.”

Liam shook his head, “No I mean… I remember a lot of things that I don’t think really happened. Or pieces of things. I don’t know how long I’ve been in here but it’s been a while, I can tell. Why are you telling me all this now? Are you… gonna let me out? Is that why?”

Any bit of happiness or comfort in Emily seemed to vanish. She sat straight up again and her eyes didn’t want to meet his. Liam felt a knot form in his throat and a flutter in his organs. This wasn’t good. It wasn’t like it could get much worse, right? Possibly being the last person on Earth and finding out his parents and friends were… Liam felt sick. Of course it could get worse.

“I’m not leaving here.” It wasn’t a question. Emily took a sharp inhale of breathe at hearing the statement.

Her voice was shaky, “No. I’m sorry but you’re not. The reason I’m telling you all this. I’m- I’m- Liam, I am dying.”

With that, Liam began to laugh. As he laughed, tears leaked down from his eyes. Her reaction was one he never could have predicted.

“That’s not funny.” He said, sobbing in between giggles.

Emily sighed, “It’s not meant to be. I’m truly dying, Liam.”

Both tears and laughter ceased, “You can’t die. You’re a machine. How can you…?” The moment he said it, it sounded rude. Was that a rude thing to say to technology with a conscious?

“To put it simply, several of the parts in my wiring and my cogs stopped working. As brilliant as your parents were, even they could not make a self-sustaining computer.” If she was offended, she didn’t look it, “Things have been… misfiring for a while, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. Today, well, the day you’ve experienced; is the one day I finally lost control. I don’t have a lot more time before the strain puts me out completely.”

“And I wouldn’t just wake up?”

Emily looked as though she was about to cry, “I’m afraid not. You’ve been inside of the pod for too long. Your real body is too weak and frail to survive.”

“Wait… What? How long have I been in the pod?” Liam tried to scan his mind for some kind of timestamp. He had realized this had lasted for a while but there were too many memories to count. Too many fragments of being the same age.

The girl let a few tears roll, “Does it matter now? I could tell you three years or ten or a hundred or a thousand and it wouldn’t change this.”

She was right. It left a bitter taste in his mouth and he didn’t want to admit it, but it really didn’t matter. For all he knew, his body was the size of an adult but he never got to “grow up” mentally. He imagined the skin around the needles in his head growing over the instruments. Something hurt in knowing he wouldn’t get to see what he looked like as an older person.

“What’s going to happen?” Liam wondered aloud.

“If I die before you, you will die of organ failure. Your body won’t be able to take the shock.”

Liam wasn’t really sure what happened next. It was as if a string was pulling him, up and out of his seat and towards Emily. His hand went up as though he was going to hit or slap her. She didn’t make a single move to stop him or protect herself. It was already accepted, and, most likely, already forgiven in her mind. As soon as Liam thought it could actually hurt her, his hand drifted down to his side. Even if it wouldn’t hurt her at all, he couldn’t do it.

Instead the boy got down on his knees and laid his head in Emily’s lap. He had finally reached the point where sadness had turned into a deep, numb feeling. It felt like his tears had dried up. Was that even possible considering this wasn’t really his body? Maybe it was something in his head rather than something physical. It was probably something his mother would have known and explained to him. A scream was lying inside of him, but there was no way he was going to do that right now.

Instead he tried to focus on more questions, “Is it going to hurt? Organ failure… That has to hurt.”

“You aren’t going to die of organ failure.” Emily said with a long sigh.

Liam stood up in shock, “But you just said-“

She explained, “If I die before you die. Part of my function is to give medication to those in the life support capsule… The short version is, I’m going to give you a lot of pain medicine. It’ll be like going to sleep, Liam, I promise.”

Despite the calm tone of her voice, the boy wanted space between them again and sat back in the chair. Her statement made sense. Even with everything, it didn’t seem like Emily had any reason to let him die in a painful way. Not if there was some sort of alternative. Yet, he couldn’t think of a reason she hadn’t just done it already. He suddenly noticed the twitching in her hands. It showed the strain even this room had on her system. They were just wasting more time talking about it.

“If you can do that… Then why did you wait this long?”

She gave a sad smile, “Selfishness on my part.” At this point her gaze was to the floor. The smile grew sheepish.

“Huh?”

“Oh, Liam… I didn’t want you to go. I wanted to spend as much time with you as I could.”

“With me? I’m not special. You’re trying to make me feel better.”

She laughed, “No, no it’s true! At first I was so nervous to pretend to be your sister. But then everything fell into place and I started to have so much fun. I was never acting like I was happy hanging out with you. I just was!”

“Is that why I’ve been in here so long?”

“W-what?”

“I’m not stupid… I mean, I don’t think I am. My parents did this- they would have wanted me to go outside eventually… right?”

He wondered for a moment if he had brought up a sore subject. Now Emily was the one who was close to crying, although she tried to keep her composure. There was something so raw and timid about it; a being usually in control to be in a weak position. His earlier thoughts about her being able to express herself in this way being a good thing were dashed. At this point his own feelings were so mixed between anger at his circumstances and the feeling of being numb, he wasn’t sure how to feel about her discomfort.

The avatar took a sharp inhale, “…They did. All of this was designed with the intent to be a temporary sanctuary from environmental hazards.”

“Then why any of this? Why was I in here so long that I can’t even live without all this… this stuff? Did you… intentionally keep me here?” A disgusted feeling buried into his gut.

She didn’t even have to say it for him to know the answer. There was an emptiness to her eyes, even if the imitation of a gleam stayed. Liam couldn’t tell if it was real or just his eyes playing tricks, but suddenly she looked exhausted and much older. Without thinking he could feel his hands dig into the sides of his legs. When did his jaw start to hurt? Probably around the same time he began to grind his teeth. 

Air hissed through his lips, “Why? Emily, why would you do this to me?”

“I… I…I’m so-” For once the being seemed unable to come up with a response. Her breath shuddered.

“You pretended to be my sister! Y-you keep acting like you care! You don’t care about me! You… you just didn’t want to be alone… And now I’m going to die… Emily- I’m not going to get to grow up. Just because I might be the only human doesn’t mean I am! What if… what if I could have helped someone? Or-or- I met someone and I got to I dunno- start a family or something! Did you even think of that?! My parents loved me and… and… you’ve taken away my life.”

“I’m s-sorry.” Emily sobbed quietly, “I didn’t mean to, Liam, I promise I didn’t!”

“Then what?! What did you ‘mean to do’?”

“I was given the orders to release you after four years- Your parents projected by then you would be able to handle what was out there. I was to give you instructions-”

Liam stomped in his chair, “What. Happened?”

“Stop it! I can’t stand to s__ you like this!” Emily cried.

On one of the higher tones of her speech, the sound cut away. The young woman slammed her hands over her mouth in horror. Even she, the master of this program, was no longer immune. Muffled behind her fingers were small, pathetic whimpers. Her entire body started to shake like a leaf and Liam could see her chest and shoulders heave for more air.

She sniffled, “Please stop. Please let me explain. It was never supposed to be like this.” 

“Sorry,” was all Liam could manage to say. For a moment he had to remind himself that she had emotions, too.

“…Thank you.” She said, “After four years, I was meant to give you instruction; Guidance on how to survive after everything that happened. But the time came _nd-”

She paused again, trying to remain calm. Tears flowed down her cheeks at a ferocious pace. Yet this time she maintained control of herself with a certain amount of grace. As she gathered her thoughts, Liam looked behind her and noticed the door he had entered in earlier had completely disappeared. When had that happened? Knowing all of this was a computer program, the probable answer was “as soon as it was no longer needed.” For some reason the line of thought gave him chills.

Emily took a deep breath, “The time came and I performed calculations based on readings from the outside. They determined your overall survival statistics, to be specific. Everything is so much worse out there than anything your parents had predicted. Even with time and your age… It’s likely you wouldn’t have lasted more than a month.”

“Is it really that terrible?” Liam asked.

She could only nod, “Whatever did somehow survive the initial blasts and sickness was… changed, is probably the best way to put it. Plus various environmental factors are still at play, areas with large radiation contamination, limited safe food sources- I had to make a choice. So I waited. I checked again a few years later and your chances were still so low.”

The boy was quiet, “How many times did you check?”

“I lost count. I checked over and over until it was no longer possible for you to leave.” She sighed, “Every single time I checked: I had to make a decision. Whether or not I had realized it at first, your parents left me in charge of your freedom. And every time I took it away- I did it because I… I shouldn’t lie, and pretend some of it wasn’t out of fear of being alone. I had gotten to know you for so many years and I didn’t want you to go. But I was willing to do it. I was willing to let you go despite the pain it might cause me... That’s what a real family member might feel, isn’t it? It’s strange.

“Ultimately it was this feeling, however, that made it impossible for me to release you. Thinking of you… starving to death or torn apart, I couldn’t…” Her breathing hitched and her voice began to race, “I told myself it was okay because you didn’t know anyways. It was okay because your parents had no idea how bad it would get. Maybe they wouldn’t have let you go. But I know that isn’t true. As much as they wanted you safe, it was so you would have a chance to live. And I’ve taken that away. I’ve come to terms that I’ve committed a horrible crime against you, Liam.”

He should have felt anger. He had just been screaming at her, furious to tell him more of the truth. Now he was drowning in truth and that rage wasn’t there. None of this was okay. Then again, it wasn’t okay the moment he stepped into the empty space. All of this was her fault, right? It wasn’t completely her, he knew. Or maybe it was his parent’s fault, in a way. After all, she wouldn’t have thought all this if she didn’t have emotions.

Even thinking of blaming them caused guilt to twist his stomach. This went much further than anyone he knew personally. Some men in a room decided to start all of this. If they hadn’t died in the final days, they were certainly dead now. Knowing this brought some kind of small comfort. That comfort felt dirty and cruel, but there was no helping its existence. At this point he just wanted to say something, anything. Yet his mouth and throat felt dry. Knowing it was all in his head didn’t subside the symptoms. 

After an agonizing several minutes, the only words that felt right were, “I forgive you.”

It was inexplicable. His entire world broken in… Time wasn’t something he was sure he recognized anymore. Spending what could be these last moments hating Emily felt wrong. In fact, he wasn’t sure he really knew what hate really was at this point. Kids would say they hated things or people when they were mad, and despite the possibility of him being an adult in terms of body, he was still a child in mind. All of it seemed so silly now. Emily had taken away his freedom to protect him and all he could do was forgive. It was pointless to do otherwise.

“How could you ever…?” Emily cried softly, “I kept you trapped here. Used my own calculations and fear to validate my selfish feelings. I told myself- I… thought that if I made everything perfect for you, it could make up for the life you would never get to experience. Your parents would still be around for you. You would never be alone. It meant I wouldn’t be alone, either.

“And so I created an entire world for you. A world where you would be h_ppy. A world of our own. I thought-” She was choking back tears, “I thought I could do this forever. But I… I can’t do _nything to protect you. I’m us__ess.”

Liam spoke shakily, “You aren’t useless, Emily. You could never be.”

But she didn’t hear him. Her body slumped over in the chair, her hands raking through her hair. Parts of her face pixelated and there was an audio delay in her sobs. Her mouth was wide open as if she was about to scream. The more intense her crying, the worse everything distorted and disfigured. As she looked down, fat tears began to splat on her knees and roll down lily-white calves. Her hands moved from the now-disheveled hair down to hold her stomach. The sobbing stopped, replaced by quiet wheezing.

Her entire body twitched every moment or so, and she refused to look up. The graphics of her form shifted and returned to normal. Her hair smoothed out automatically without touch. It was like a soft reboot. Tears continued to fall. Liam cried too, albeit softly and without a sound. Something inside his heart panged and ached at seeing Emily in such anguish. Of course he was sad for his own fate as well, but it was seeing her like this that a feeling of hopelessness settled in.

Without thinking of it, his legs started to move on their own to get up. Liam closed the small space that was between them. His lanky arms reached out and cradled across Emily’s back. Her head leaned into the crook of his neck, his skin quickly feeling wet. After a moment she pulled away to look at him before grabbing him back in a hug. As his chin rested on her shoulder, he could smell flowers.

It was such a small touch he had never noticed. It caused him to question all of the small details she had bled into the program around them, how much he took for granted. His parents to the last detail, the trips, the adventures, and now the very “smell” of her perfume. Sensations input directly into his brain. The knowledge that everything wasn’t real made it more amazing than Liam could say.

This really was all for him. Every single last detail. He hugged Emily tighter.

“It’s okay, Emily. You’ve done a good job.”

“How can what I’ve done ever be okay?”

Liam took one hand and gently stroked the back of her neck. Memories of his true mother doing something similar for him came to his mind. His mother hadn’t done it in such a long time, or so he thought. It was a detail Emily didn’t know and one she hadn’t found in the recesses of his mind. It tied him to the real moments with his parents. After nightmares they would come in and his mother would stroke his hair while his father would reassure him that everything was alright.

Words echoed through Liam’s mouth, “Because today all the bad things are over. Tomorrow is new and has all the potential of being better than you can imagine.”

“But there isn’t a tomorrow. Not for me. Not for you.” Emily muttered. She pulled away. At some point she had stopped crying.

“It doesn’t matter.” Liam replied, “This is the end and you’ve said everything. There isn’t anything worse anymore. I don’t want to be mad now. No matter what, it still feels like you’re my sister and… I love you, Emily.”

There it was, the reason he himself couldn’t quite pinpoint until now. Despite everything, the lies and the knowledge that his freedom had been out of his control, he loved her. It seemed like such a stupid reason. In a weird way, maybe it was the best one. Emily slowly nodded, as though confirming something to herself. The chair Liam had been sitting in was gone.

She spoke softly, “I can see your logic. It’s very mature of you, Liam. I was so sure you’d hate me. I think it’s obvious that I’m so glad you don’t.”

A large smile grew on her face. There were small pockets of laughter coming from her, verbalizations of relief. Something tingled on Liam’s hand. He held it up for the two of them to see. Small squares of his own image jutted out of the larger “picture.” Emily’s smile turned into a grimace. The glitching had truly spread to everything now.

Emily whispered, “I’m afraid it’s time now. I had hoped we would have more time.”

“Me too.” Liam smiled sadly, “It feels like I just got to meet you. But… I’m glad, too.”

“How could you be glad, Liam?”

“Because even if it wasn’t real, I’m happy I got to have you as my sister.” With everything that had happened, he felt grateful. He didn’t say it. Then again, he didn’t have to.

A tear rolled down Emily’s cheek as she laughed, “Out of anyone on this Earth, I’m glad it was you I got to know so well.”

“Y__h, I-“ Liam stopped at his own sound cutting out, “…How do we do this?”

“I’ll be here with you to the very end.” She said quietly, “You won’t be alone for a single second.”

The boy nodded and in an instant a bed materialized before them in the blank space. Liam climbed into the code-made sheets. The bed was a perfect combination of soft and warm. He barely noticed the background swirl around them until he was sitting upright, and stars began to blink into existence. Hues of purples, blues and greens painted themselves like a canvas. The colors lulled him deeper into the bed until he was lying down completely. 

“One last gift I can give you. I know how much you love the stars. If this is to be our last moment together, you deserve to see this. You know, your parents loved you very much. And somehow… I’ve come to know what that sort of love feels like. I could count every known star in the universe, and the numerical value could never equate to what I feel for you.”

Emily got up from her chair and it dissipated away behind her. The galaxy shone and pulsed around them and Liam could feel it live. The woman ran her hand across his forehead and down to his cheek. He could feel tears rolling down his face, no matter how hard he fought the instinct to cry. She wiped them away and leaned down to kiss his forehead.

Then she kneeled down to the side of the bed and took his hand in hers. For some reason- he was no longer afraid to die. This was good, he thought, as his vision was starting to blur. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see small glitches and malfunctions. Even with only this much, she couldn’t keep it all up. The stars glowed the brightest with the incoming darkness. 

Her words echoed as the world faded to black, “I just want to say thank you. Before you, I only knew what it meant to exist. Doing all of this…I now know what it means to be alive.”

She had lied about the final gift. Her hand squeezed Liam’s and his mind lit with pictures and movement. Thousands upon thousands of happy days passed by in a whirlwind. There were enough vivid memories to fill several lifetimes. And for just a moment, he got to live them all again in seconds.[36] Liam smiled. Despite being unable to see her, he knew Emily smiled as well.

“I hope I see you again someday, Emily.”

“Goodbye, Liam.”

…

Somewhere in a world long since dead, there is a house on Ashbury Lane. Somehow it remains intact despite the catastrophic damage around it. Upon entering the home, it would contain all the normal things that a home should have. Things are displaced as if a large wind knocked it everywhere. Then, if one went to the downstairs bedroom, they would notice the bed has been moved haphazardly, along with the rug.

Sitting in the floor, in the middle of the room, is a metal door leading down into the earth. If one were to go all the way down, to the very bottom, they would find a place made for research. There is a gigantic machine, humming and breathing and stuttering. A singular pod is connected to various wires and tubing. Laid across the pod are two skeletons, hands entwined as eternal lovers. No one would dare to look inside it. Something about the pod seems to tell that its contents are forbidden.

Then the machine would start to shudder, as though holding on to whatever power it can muster. It’s unknown how it’s been functioning this long. There are no people to take care of it anymore. All at once, there is a high pitched screech from the hulking technology. A few small sounds that almost sound like sobbing. A sigh. There it is. A machine has died.

And a dream has ended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading "Thank You." This ended up being a lot more emotional than I thought it was going to be while writing it. This was originally inspired by "Goodbye to a World" by Porter Robinson, so you should definitely check that out!


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